Proper amount of solar panels needed to charge batteries

batterysolarsolar-panels

I am working on a plan for a 24V electrical system. Based on my needs I plan to have six 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 batteries wired up (2S3P I believe) to give me 24V 300Ah.

Assuming I need to fully recharge this battery bank each day and going on a rough average of 6 hours of solar charging per day, the math seems to indicate I need roughly 1200W of solar panels:

25.6V * 300Ah = 7680Wh
7680Wh / 6h = 1280W (let's call it 1200W)

I see that there are 12V solar panels and 24V solar panels. But am I correct that the panel voltage is somewhat irrelevant. Do I need 1200W regardless of the panel voltage?

Would using twelve 100W 12V panels work? Then what about using 300W 24V panels? Would I need 2 or 4 of those panels? I'm hoping the answer is 2 panels but I suspect it's 4 since it is the wattage, not the voltage that matters, correct?

To summarize, would I need two or four 300W 24V solar panels to recharge a 24V 300Ah battery bank on a daily basis assuming 6 hours average of useful solar energy?

If more specifics are needed about the batteries or solar panels, I can update with details. Just let me know what is needed.

Best Answer

I'm a little concerned with sizing here, but your math seems pretty solid. 1200W is 1200W, and the voltage of the battery doesn't change that.

So yeah, if you want to charge a 7200WH battery pack in 6 hours, that is indeed 1200W. You're not going to get that out of 600W of panel, unless you wait twice as long.

Of course, you won't get 1200W out of a 1200W panel set except when it's square-on with the sun.